Artists, film directors, composers, and writers often use the image of an apple in their works. In mythology, the apple is the most common symbol.
Popular folklore symbol
The apple is an ancient fruit known to man for over 4,000 years. In folklore, the image of this fruit is actively exploited: in the tales of the peoples of the world, in Homer in the Iliad, in ancient myths. The apple in art appears in three forms:
- a symbol of eternal youth (rejuvenating apples);
- an apple of discord, a harbinger of misfortune (AS Pushkin "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Heroes");
- an apple - the fruit of the tree of fate (A. Nekrasov "Who lives well in Russia").
You can read the following lines from S. Yesenin: "Your meek Savior smells of apple and honey in the churches …". The poem traces the chain Joy - Soul - Savior. The same idea is reflected in I. A. Bunin in Antonovskiye Apples.
The apple is the cherished, favorite image of I. Mandelstam. It first appeared in the poem "Eucharist" in 1915. “The whole world is taken in hand, like a simple apple” - here the fruit symbolizes peace and salvation that the church brings. An apple is a divine gift, joy, it is in this context that this image is read in Mandelstam's poetry and prose: "Travel to Armenia", "Youth of Goethe", "Word and Culture".
In O. Henry's story "The Subdued Wind", apples are a detail of the hero's image, while Agatha Christie's apples are a means of inspiration. Her heroine, the writer Mrs. Oliver, ate apples in large quantities.
The popularity of this fruit in the literature is not accidental, the apple is an affordable, favorite fruit, it has many medicinal useful properties.
The image of an apple in painting
Painters also paid attention to this topic. The famous painting by Sandro Biticelli "Spring" depicts the main character emerging from a beautiful apple orchard. The German artist Lucas Cranas in the painting "The Golden Age" also used the image of an apple tree, around it, strewn with ripe fruits, young men and women are circling in a merry round dance. Here the apple tree is a symbol of youth and health and the tree of the world.
The painting by D. Zhilinsky "Under the old apple tree" is symbolic. Under a tree strewn with fruits, figures are depicted representing the three ages of human life: a bent old woman, a young woman and a boy.
The image of an apple can be seen on the canvases of the great painters: V. Titian, P. Rubens, Raphael, M. M. de Caravaggio. Each artist in his paintings reflected his vision of this image.
Based on the famous myth of the Paris trial, composer Antonio Honor created the most ambitious opera in the history of music - The Golden Apple. Also, the image of an apple is found in films, in animation.
